rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Years ago, I had a computer built for me to use for multiple tasks. The person putting the system together asked what I had intended on running on the system. I told him of the applications I intended to use. From that he built a system capable of the most demanding of those applications. Fortunately, the company doing this work for me was quite knowledgeable and the system worked well for years after that.

This unfortunately won't be the case with a place like Best Buy, as they will only be interested in selling you a system that nets them the most profit. Find someone you know and trust with computer information and present what you intend to run on the system and discuss that with that person.
--Bob

tenny52 Loc: San Francisco

Don't forget to check on this.
you pay $433 for this certified refurbished from Amazon(no tax which doesn't happen often as I checked it on the order total); it is probably an open box one.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077D4SFMF/ref=psdc_13896597011_t2_B073YHNPC6
And then have the biggest HD monitor you table can hold(at least 24" and up to 42").
I wish my wife's broke down so that I can have this.

leftj Loc: Texas

I think you could make that happen. Just sayin.

tenny52 Loc: San Francisco

Can you suggest how to break her desktop discreetly?

cidbearit Loc: Canton, MI, USA

Quite a few good comments here and a lot for you to consider. The one thing that regularly gets overlooked when folks buy a new machine is the Power Supply Unit (PSU). This is the component that the power cord plugs into from the wall outlet (or better yet, a surge suppressor or uninterruptible power supply) and what distributes power to all the components in your machine. https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/power-supplies-101,4193.html (You will have to copy and paste the ",4193.html" part of that url after clicking the link).

If you buy a machine with a quad-core processor and 16 gigs of ram and hope to add upgrades down the road (e.g. more powerful graphics card(s), optical drives/burners, extra fans, or anything that requires power), you need to make sure your PSU is rated at a high enough Wattage to support everything, and you need to make sure you have ample available power feeds to connect to the new components. I realize this is getting more complicated than you wanted, but the last thing you want is to buy a machine that has a PSU that is just enough for the way it's configured when you buy it, but can't accommodate future upgrades.

And you can be pretty sure the average floor salesman at Best Buy or Costco will have no idea what to say if you ask about the PSU. Take some time to read at the link above and do your homework, and you'll be set for years to come. If upgrading is not a concern, then take what you get. But if you want to add components in the future, you don't want to find yourself having to upgrade the PSU first to have enough juice to power the monster graphics cards you just bought.

Dennis

leftj Loc: Texas

Are you accident prone?

DanielB Loc: San Diego, Ca

I'm not a PC user except at work but I agree with this statement with the addition of getting a good graphics chipset with your machine like Nvidia or GTX not a built in Intel chips that come with the machine.

photoman022 Loc: Manchester CT USA

When I needed a new lap top I went to a local computer store (not a big box store); I told the salesperson that I wanted a computer for photo processing; I explained that I shot in RAW, etc. He asked me if I am a gamer and I answered, "no." He then showed me the line of lap tops that would work well for me. He showed me the new ones and the refurbished ones. I wound up buying a refurbished Lenovo laptop, I already had the external monitor, and (by buying the refurb) I got more bang for my buck. I suggest that you do what I did: go to someone who knows and follow their advice! You probably won't find that knowledge in the big box store.

rmacilroy Loc: pompano beach, fl

androd works with light room but win 10 works better. any digita camera will wrk have a d40 works great cheep 2

Silverman Loc: Michigan

Acer Chromebook 15.6" 1.5 GHz Dual-Core 2GB Ram 16 GB Flash Drive |CB5-571-C9DH This is what I have now, simple to use, unlimited Cloud storage.

rmacilroy Loc: pompano beach, fl

have a giabyte tower with a tigabyte a cell phone hawie mate nine and a samsun view 128 gigs i use the view because its covient tower has win 10 works alot better on lightroom cc im just learing how to use all this software finding it a little difficult.

nikonuser750 Loc: Monroe, LA

I'm a little late with this reply but here are my thoughts. You've been given good advice on the amount of RAM you need. 16gb is great but you can get by with less. Get too little and it will be your bottle neck slowing down your processing. PS and LR do require more Ram than other apps like your word processor or email program. As for computer makes, you can get a lemon from any of them. I prefer to buy directly from the manufacture like Lenovo.com or HP.com. I have found that they will sale some lesser performing models at the retail stores than they will sale directly. In particular in order to be competive they seem to cut back on quality control on models at some of the wholesale clubs compared to similar models sold elsewhere. If you do many pictures I'd recommend a 1TB hard drive for storage. I'd also recommend that at least have 1 USB external hard drive for backup. Even new hard drives fail. I recommend Western Digital. You can get their Passport 4Tb drive for a little over $100 and it comes with automatic back up software so that you don't have to hassle with backing up, it is just done for you.

As for Dell. Many people love them but they have always frustrated me greatly. I find them built for obsolescence compared to Lenovo and HP which I've found to be easier to upgrade when necessary. I also find Dell more difficult to work on.

Lenovo and HP both have great tech support. As a typist I prefer the keyboards of Lenovo and Dell. If you aren't familiar with Lenovo, they bought the IBM PC division and still make computers like IBM did with tech support out of Atlanta, Georgia. Lenovo's ThinkPad laptops are some of the best you can buy.

You can call Lenovo or HP and they will be able to advise you on a model that will meet your technical specifications. Of course the better the specifications the more expensive the computer so you have to decide what is most important to you for your needs. At a minimum I'd recommend 12GB RAM (16 GB is better) , 1TB hard drive and an Intel i5 processor. Actually if it is within your budget I'd really recommend the i7 processor. You'll be able to operate PS and LR just fine with an i5 but it seems that an i7 just is able to handle updates and new software longer into the future than the i5. I'd stay away from the i3. With the i3 you are starting off slow and as you upgrade and add new software it will just get slower.

Rember to consider an extended warranty. If you buy a 3 or 4 year extended warranty, any problem and you just call and send it to them and usually have it back in a week or less. Some even give you the option of having a tech come to you for repair.

Best of luck with your new purchase.

DJphoto Loc: SF Bay Area

I got my Dell desktop from Costco about a year and a half ago and it was a very good deal: Core I7, 16 GB RAM, video card with 4 GB and a 2 TB hard drive for $850 (no monitor). It has been a great machine that replaced an older Dell desktop. I've never had an HP, as I've heard they are less reliable than Dell (from my "computer geek" son in law). I love my HP calculator though. I refuse to buy Lenovo because they are a Chi-Com owned company and it's my way of not supporting what I consider one of our enemies. I know that it's really impossible to not buy Chinese products, but you have to draw the line somewhere.

I am a big fan of Toshiba laptops, but Dell makes some very nice ones too. I don't do any heavy duty processing on my laptop and find that a 13.3" is the optimum size (I've had smaller and larger); I do the "heavy lifting" on my desktop with a larger monitor.